Stimming and support assemblages: autistic improvisation, sensory worlds and wellbeing

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Rose, M. C. & Lupton, D. (2026). Stimming and support assemblages: autistic improvisation, sensory worlds and wellbeing. Disability & Society, 41(10), 2580-2604. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2026.2715012

Publication date: 11 Aug 2026 Added to AutiHub: 2 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Megan Catherine Rose *
  2. Deborah Lupton

Abstract

Autistic adults face entrenched stigma, discrimination and marginalisation across educational settings, employment and social life. Autistic-led research has highlighted the importance of centring lived experience in understanding autistic wellbeing. Stimming practices and other ways of using nonhuman supports are central to autistic identities yet are routinely pathologised. This article expands definitions of stimming to include multisensory, creative and affective engagements with things, places, creatures and digital supports. The analysis draws on qualitative interviews with Australian autistic adults, presenting four illustrative case studies that provide detailed overviews of how our participants used nonhuman supports for comfort, care and connection. Using feminist new materialism and critical disability/crip studies, we introduce the concept of stimming and support assemblages: dynamic entanglements of bodies, objects, environments and affects that open capacities for agency, regulation and flourishing. These assemblages illuminate the affirmative and creative dimensions of autistic life, offering directions for inclusive design of supports.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 11:55.

Cited references
83
With a DOI
75
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
8
25 / 83 (30.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 83 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
83 / 83 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
222
From DOI or external metadata
222
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
137 / 222 (61.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 85 / 222 (38.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
63 / 222 (28.4%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 63 / 137 (46.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 42 / 183 (23.0%).
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